


Stars to Your Beautiful

by CharlieDC



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Drinking, Established Relationship, Feels, First Impressions, Fluff, Love Letters, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 16:12:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15198485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlieDC/pseuds/CharlieDC
Summary: Sam Parson, younger sister (by three years!) to Stanely Cup Champion Kent Parson, meets her brother's boyfriends for the first time and boy does she have stories to tell.





	1. Make A Good Impression

**_2006_ **

**_11:04 AM_ **

The very first time Sam had ever heard about Jack Zimmermann was upon opening a letter addressed specifically to her.

She sat with her legs dangling from the chair in the tiny dining room of their home in New York. Kent had left for Quebec about two months ago, and he wrote her every week. 

Every letter would include a blade of grass, and every blade of grass would be stowed safely in an old tin box that once housed candies she and Kent split on her 8th birthday. 

_ I’ve been wanting to talk about him for sooo long, Sammy. I just didn’t know how to write it out. _ Kent’s illigable chicken scratch was getting clearer; she appreciated all the effort he put into his handwriting so she could read it clearly. 

It showed her how much he cared. How much he missed home. 

_ He skates like a pro. He shoots like a pro. He’s definitely the son of Bad Bob. I fucking internally screamed when I met him! His dad is so cool! And GOD if I thought Bad Bob was hot in his prime, his son is a spitting fucking image.  _

Sam’s laugh was heard from upstairs, as her mother was reading her own letter from Kent. It was a lot more tame, and Anne smiled as she heard Kent make Sam laugh, even if he wasn’t here. 

_ And fuck his eyes. His eyes are so damn blue. Like you remember those flowers Marie used to plant outside her yard? The ones we would pick for mom after she got home from work? They’re blue like that. Just the thought of them make my insides wanna go outside. He seriously has me fucked up, Sam.  _

“What a dork…” Sam mumbled to herself. She added  _ blue eyes _ to the ongoing list of Kent’s Type that she had stowed away in her brain. 

_ Sometimes I wish it wasn’t so difficult to just wanna hold his hand, yknow? Like I could do it without a second guess. But I don’t think he’d ever feel that way…  _

Sam’s grin faltered. Tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, she flipped the page. It was dated two days after the last one: 

_ So Jack and I kissed. It felt like being on fire and cooling down all at once. He has… very nice lips. And that’s all you get.  _

_ You’re my sister and I love you and I know you’re going to use this as blackmail, but I give no fucks right now.  _

___

**_2018_ **

**_5:26 PM_ **

Stairs and stairs and stairs later, Sam was finally walking towards the apartment on Kent’s floor. The text he sent her two hours ago read  _ D15 _ and it takes her a good seven minutes to find it because she forgot her contacts today. All Sam could do was stand with her nervous breath hitting the wooden door for a good fifteen seconds once she located the damn apartment.

This is it. This is the moment she had been waiting for. While it’s all fun and games to make fun of Kent and joke about his love life… this was a huge step for them. Having  _ the worst _ example of a good, healthy relationship really didn’t help give Kent and Sam a positive platform to develop their own relationships off of. She was really crossing all her fingers on this one because of how excited Kent sounded over the phone. All Sam could do now, though, was play with the tearing threads of Kent’s old Brooklyn hoodie. The nerves ate at her as she pulled and pulled on each new, weathered string.

She might as well wear it if she was going to be coming into Kent’s new home for the first time. Bring a little New York into his new life.

Upon closer examination of the hoodie she realized that everything about it is  _ Kent _ . Gray sweater fabric is the color Kent’s eyes change in the winter. Frayed threads resemble Kent; wholly, he is intact… but at closer inspection he isn’t perfect and he’s been used. He’s been chewed on, picked at and pulled.

Sam folds the sleeves of the hoodie before she knocks on the door.

Right when none other than the left winger of Providence’s prized hockey team (of course Kent’s type) opens the door, Sam realizes she completely forgot a house warming gift.

He smiles at her, like he doesn’t realize her huge fuck up, but it’s only a matter of time. “Welcome!” He says and even though she enters, she’s already making plans to skillfully create a big enough distraction or excuse to allow her to take a twenty minute trip to Target for a house-warming succulent or… nice lamp. His slow churned Russian accent slips into her register and she is instantly charmed by him.

Sam’s already in the foye, toeing off her shoes at the man’s request when he extends a hand to her.

“Alexei.” He says as if she didn’t know.

It’s then that Sam notices she’s spent this entire time freaking out about how horrible of a sister she is instead of  _ introducing _ herself as the horrible sister she is.

“Sam.” She takes his hand. It is extremely soft, “I’m Kent’s-”

“SAMMY!”

Just as she’s turning the corner with Alexei, Kent is jumping over the back of the couch he was once seated on. His arms are engulfing Sam; she can’t help but look over his shoulder at the two other men on the couch, staring at them with confused smiles on their faces. It’s only a guess as they’re both fuzzy to her, but it’s a good guess she assumes.

“Hey you big doof.” Reaching up to ruffle his hair, she notices beyond the top of the head of the tall, dark and handsome one that there is a shelf of succulents.

Fuck. There was no plan B for a housewarming gift. A housewarming gift alone, apparently, wasn’t even plan A.

_ Horrible Sister Of The Year Award: Samantha Parson. _

“I didn’t know you’d get here so soon!” Kent’s pulling back and smiling at her; taking in her outfit of his old hoodie and ripped jeans. Her hair is in a messy bun; just like she always wears, and she’s got her  _ Vegas Aces _ snapback clipped in her belt loop.

She’s a Parson, for sure.

“I texted you like twenty minutes ago that I was just pulling up to your complex, Kenneth.”

Suddenly, there was an outburst of laughter.

“Kenneth?” The blond one on the couch is giggling profusely as the blue eyed dream tries to cover up his grin.

Kent turns around and slings an arm around her shoulders. He pulls her close and plants a kiss on the crown of her head, “Guys,” he announces to the room, “this is my baby sister-”

“ _ Just _ sister-”

“ _ Sam _ . This is my  _ sister. _ Sam.” Kent is still smiling, though. Alexei is walking back to the kitchen after taking Sam’s drink order (“Just a water for now, thanks”) when Kent is yanking her over to the couch to sit.

“You’ve met Tater, I’m assuming.” He’s gesturing her to take a seat next to him when she almost sits on Kitt, who she instantly avoids squishing. The folly of forgetting her contacts could have resulted in a poorly smushed kitten. Kent would never forgive her. Sam is just picking her up and holding her close to her chest, cooing, when she responds:

“If you’re talking about the forward for the Providence Falconers then yes, I’ve met Alexei Mashkov. I can finally check that off my bucket list.”

Which is when she looks up to look deep into the piercing blue eyes of Jack Zimmermann and it occurs to her that  _ that  _ is the blue eyed dream she blearily saw earlier.

Check  _ two  _ things off her bucket list.

“Good!” The way Kent’s voice raises sets off something on Sam’s radar. If she thought she herself was nervous, poor Kent must be freaking out. She wants to say something; to pull him aside or pat his knee. Some shit people do to comfort each other, but they’ve never really been that way.

Instead she just gives him a smile and hopes he gets the message loud and clear:  _ It’s just me. You’re gonna be fine. _

The small blond is reaching over and shaking her hand while introducing himself as  _ Bitty  _ and all Sam can do is giggle. A giggle is not what Bitty thought to get in return to his polite (Southern, by the sound of that accent) gesture.

“I’m sorry,” Sam is setting Kitt down because it’s rude to be meeting your brother’s polyamorous partners whilst holding a kitten, “You just…”

She’s giggling again and Kent is slapping her knee.

“Sorry!” She’s exclaiming again, “You just aren’t…”

“Sam, oh my god,  _ what?” _ He’s a bit annoyed, but his smile is endearing so Sam clears her throat.

“You’re not Kent’s regular type, is all.”

“What the hell do you mean?” Kent’s objecting.

“Um, for starters,” Crossing her arms and squaring up her brother is an age old dance and they’re at it again, “He’s polite.”

Kent’s jaw drops, speechless, so Sam continues, “And short.” Though, when she looks at Bitty she sees a strange expression, “Not that that’s a bad thing!” She clarifies.

“What do you mean-?”

“Kent normally goes for the taller guys. Buff.” Alexei hands her the glass of water, “The throw-you-over-their-shoulder, type, apparently.”

Alexei and Jack are laughing as Bitty is squeezing the life out of a throw pillow, trying to conceal his face. He’s staring at Kent’s completely flushed face (trying to be hidden by him sipping his abandoned beer) and losing at the battle of willpower.

“Inviting you over was a bad idea-”

“Hey, you’re the one that waited this long to tell your  _ favorite sister-” _

“-you’re my only sister-” He says in between polishing off one beer and popping off the cap of another.

“About your polyamorous partners here.” And Sam takes a sip of water, “Which I’m totally not knocking. I was apart of a polycule in college.”

Kent then chokes on his alcohol and Alexei leans in. He’s seated at the armchair parallel Jack’s, positioned right next to where Sam’s cornered herself on the couch. Kitt purrs in between Kent and Sam, content that Sam is mindlessly scratching her ears.

“Oh really!” Alexei endears, “How was that?”

“Yeah Sam, tell us all about your polyamorous partners that you somehow obtained in college  _ and never told your only sibling about. _ ” Bitty slaps Kent’s arm from his own, opposite corner of the couch. Not too far to not knock some polite sense into Kent, though.

Sam realizes a few things in between Kent reacting to her past relationship and her finishing her glass of water:

One, she hasn’t officially introduced herself to Jack Zimmermann. A part of her feels that it’s because Jack is just as nervous as the two of them, if not more so. He has been a part of their conversations for forever; the main love interest for a young, bright eyed Kent Parson. When shit went south, Sam was the first person Kent called after he got out of the hospital Jack was at. She had been the solid rock that helped him through the entire aftermath (she was even the warning voice when Kent wanted to show up to Samwell). 

Two, she was about to reveal a big part about herself that she’s never told Kent about. Not because she was scared to or never wanted to; they just didn’t have the time. Any time they talked it never came up. To her, randomly starting a conversation with “hey so I’m in a polyamorous coupling with two other girls at school” wasn’t possible at the time. And when it  _ was  _ the time and she finally got comfortable enough with herself to discuss it, the relationship was over and Kent was winning a Stanley Cup. It wasn’t her spotlight to steal when your brother is hoisting 35 pounds of legacy over his head.

Three, she should’ve taken the beer that Alexei initially offered her, if not something stronger.

“Yeah, um, when I was in college I realized some things… about myself… and,” Sam looked at Kent, trying to read his expression. When she couldn’t, she chickened out. Coming out to her brother in the strangest, not-really-coming-out way wasn’t how she wanted to spend her evening.

“The point is, is that I know what it’s like. I know what you’re going through. So I was  _ more  _ than thrilled to hear about the dynamic you have going on. And,” She leans in a little closer to her brother, putting a hand on his shoulder, “no matter what, I  _ understand _ more than  _ anyone _ what you’re going through and I support you  _ no matter what _ . I’m here for you.”

Kent’s eyes weren’t wet. They weren’t. No matter how much Jack chirped him about it,  _ they were not wet. _ His contact dried up a bit or some spec of dust flew directly at his iris or  _ some other fucking excuse _ because his eyes were. not. wet.

Fuck a housewarming gift, this moment was better than anything.

“With that out of the way,” Sam declares as she starts ruffling through her bag because  _ boy _ had she been waiting for this moment, “I finally get to do something I have been waiting exactly twelve years to do.”

Sam gets up from her seat on the couch, “First, I am going to get myself a beer,” and she’s already off to the kitchen, popping the lid off the side of the counter (just like Kent does).

“Second, I am finally going to introduce myself to Jack Zimmermann.”

Jack’s eyes widen and he smiles, because Sam is too much like her brother and he loves it. He’d be more than happy to extend a hand and welcome her into their little private cluster of friendship. It’s a small circle to which they add new faces one by one; Kent’s little, spit-fire sister is no exception.

He’s standing up and grabbing his beer to walk over to her. Extending out the neck of his bottle he smiles at her, “Jack Zimmermann,” he greets.

“Sam Parson,” she clinks her beer neck with his and she believes it’s the start of a very happy friendship.

“Thirdly,” Sam says, pulling whatever she had been concealing in her bag.

“There’s a  _ third? _ ” Kent chirps from his seat. He’s got a dumb goofy grin on his face because the men he loves are just as charmed by Sam as any other man (or woman, apparently). Kent couldn’t ask for a better reaction, but how could he be surprised? She’s a Parson.

“Yes,  _ thirdly _ ,” Sam enunciates, “I have been keeping these bad boys,” she pulls out old, folded papers from her bag and sets her beer down on the countertop, “in an old tin box in my room for  _ twelve years _ and I  _ finally _ \- after years of anticipation- met Jack Zimmermann so I can read these to him in person.”

“Are those what I think they are?” Bitty asks with the most bemused expression. Kent looks on horrified because yes, Eric, they are  _ exactly _ what you think they are.

“No.” Kent’s voice is tormented and petrified at the look on Sam’s face. He makes a motion to get up from the couch, but Sam holds up the letters.

“You make one move to steal these from me and I start reading with no filtration, Kenneth.”

Jack is beaming and Kent almost lets her get away with it because his boyfriend’s smile is 100-watt worthy.

“You get one paragraph per letter and I get to pick which ones.” He bargains.

“I get any paragraph and you pick which letters.” Sam counter-argues.

“Deal.” And he’s sulking into the couch as Bitty is leaning over the back and Jack is grabbing himself a barstool to listen.

The first letter was the first one Kent had ever written her, and at the mention of Jack’s blue eyes there was an endless stream of giggles. It started with Jack, of course, and Sam never thought she could  _ fathom _ Jack Zimmermann giggling, but it’s possible and happening. Then Bitty, pillow astray as he let his bubbliness erupt from within. Alexei howled at young Kent’s mention about their first kiss. He was too poetic for a seventeen year old.

“What can I say? Jack brought out a different side of me.” The soft expression on Kent’s face when Jack smiled back at him was too much to handle, so Sam kept reading. She didn’t exactly ignore the exchange, but rather didn’t ruin the moment by acknowledging it and embarrassing her brother.

It’s better that he thinks she didn’t see it, it means she gets more opportunities to snap pictures and use as blackmail later.

“There’s more where that came from.”

“Please spare me, Samantha.” Kent strode over to the fridge, getting  _ another _ beer, which Sam snatched out of his hand.

“No.” She replied.

 


	2. Leave Them With A Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where the second hand embarrassment and fluff tags come into play. Get fucking ready.

**_9:03 PM_ **

He braced himself on Tater’s bicep as he wobble-stepped on top of the coffee table, letter in one hand. The second he got his bearings he gestured to Alexei to hand him his beer he abandoned for the fifteen seconds it took for him to struggle from the couch to the table.

“Bits, c’mon,” Kent got up to grab at the paper in Eric’s hand, but Tater pulled Kent onto the couch with him (mainly for snuggles, partially for Bitty to embarrass him with his own words).

“Parse,” Eric started, and boy was it equal parts adorable and strange to hear his partner call him ‘Parse’, “You dug this bed… now stay in it.”

Many a giggle sounded at Bitty’s misuse of the phrases.

Jack made his way in front of Bitty to grab at his beer and exchange it for a very tall glass of water. Bitty objected. Jack managed to pull the bottle away from him and chug the remaining contents of the beer, handing Bitty his water.   
“There. No more beer left. Drink the water.” With a wink, he sat down to hear Bitty’s proclamation of Kent’s letter. He looked over at Kent on the other side of the couch (smushed into Alexei’s side). Kent glanced over, blushing slightly under Jack’s gaze and smiling sheepishly at him. As if Kent Parson ever smiles sheepishly.

The room was comfortable and Sam couldn’t have asked for a better first impression on Kent’s partners. Bitty was a spitfire, much like herself. He carried himself in a genuine confidence and Sam believes that he thrives off the atmosphere he’s in, in the comfort of this apartment. He and Kent bounce energy off each other - and chirp each other - like two stars pulling gravity in on themselves. They repel, but only because they both shine so brightly.

It’s nice to see Kent coexisting with another star, instead of repelling so negatively like in the past.

Like with Jack. Except that was so different then and now it’s… good. It looks really good from Sam’s spot in the arm-chair. From the way Kent is blushing as he and Jack smile dopily at each other, as Bitty clears his throat to read, and as Alexei whispers something into Kent’s ear that has Kent holding back a laugh.

Alexei is radiating warmth. Sam sees it in the way Kent easily melts into his side, in the small touches Bitty exchanges when he passes by, and how incredibly comfortable Jack is around him - and from what she’s heard, Jack doesn’t get so comfortable so easily. Alexei seems like the kind of friend you can rely on with anything; getting you ice cream at the market, coming over to binge-watch a series he gives no shits about, but will do it because you asked, or just being there to talk. He is so incredibly, bona-fide  _ himself _ \- there’s no facade.

Sam knows Kent’s in good hands.

“AHEM!” Bitty barks from the coffee table.

“Just get it over with already!” Kent whines into Alexei’s neck. They’re all well past their first beer and the night has gotten comfortable with drunken chatter.

“I’m  _ trying _ ; you and Jack keep making googly-eyes at each other and distracting from the literal Shakespearean sonnet I’m about to perform.”

He takes a sip from his water. He clears his throat yet again. He flicks the papers in his hand and reads:

“Sammy,

Another day in Canada! I’m definitely starting to miss home by now, as if I didn’t already miss it the second I stepped out the door. Sometimes Jonesey will say something that sounds exactly like you. The other day we were packing up to go and I said-”

Sam interrupts, “He goes on for a whole page about missing me. If you want to get to the good stuff you’re gonna have to dig in.” She locked her gaze down at her hands and Kent could see the shyness on her face; all this emotion between the two of them being expressed in front of Jack, Alexei, and Eric probably made her a little uncomfortable. It wasn’t uncommon for them to back off at the sign of genuine emotion.

“Right.” Bitty flipped through the papers, trying to find the part that Sam was talking about, but ended up dropping the letters in his hands all-together. Jack picked some up and handed them back to Bitty, but they were a jumbled mess.

“Oh I think I got it,” Bitty said as he straightened up, back on the coffee table with confidence, “Okay!”

“Um… ‘We named the zamboni Bombay after the guy in the Mighty Ducks movies’… no that’s not it.” Bitty mumbled and flipped the pages until he found something worth reading aloud:

“Here we go!” This paper looked much more worn than the others; it’s folds were deeply defined and it gave off the impression of being read like the Bible itself:

“I think about him every day, Sammy. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to get myself out of this one.”

Sam recognized those words.

“I think, maybe in another world, things could work out. But… I know it’s different now. I know he won't forgive me for what happened.” Eric stumbled through in his drunken state.

“Eric.” Sam said, looking at the twisted expression on Kent’s face. He knew those words  _ all too well _ .

“I really fucked up. But I just wish I could tell him I love him, you know? Even if he never wants to see me again. He needs to know I’m so goddamn in love with him.”

The room fell silent. Bitty came to the realization of the papers he was holding. Jack rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen, silently.

Kent untangled himself from where he was smothered by Alexei and slowly reared the couch to make his way over to Jack.

“Kent I had no idea that one was in there-” Sam started.

“Sammy, it’s okay.” Kent gave her a reassuring look. This isn’t 2006 Kent Parson and Jack Zimmermann. This is real-time, adult, grown-the-fuck-up Kent Parson and Jack Zimmermann. Still, Sam couldn’t read the look on Jack’s face, nor the room for that matter.

Jack felt the cool touch of the granite counter. He steadied himself on the countertop and took a deep breath. Even back then… Kent cared. How incredibly blindsided Jack was; here he thought that for twelve years Kent hadn’t cared. Kent only wanted him for pleasure and play… never for anything more. He was just a toy, and if Jack was being honest, he convinced himself that it was okay that Kent didn’t care because Jack just wanted to be with him.

After all these years… Kent is still proving him wrong.

“You loved me?” Jack broke the silence, turning to face Kent who was hovering behind him. His voice was hoarse with emotion and he cleared it forcefully.

“Kent?”

Kent looked at his shoes and smiled.

“Of course I did, Zimms. I was dumb in love with you.” Kent looked up. He saw Jack blinking away the tears in his eyes.

“I know it’s been… forever since it happened… but I never forgave myself for pushing you too far, and…” Kent sighed, “And I know it’s different now, but I loved you til’ it hurt then and I still love you just as much now.”

From the coffee table, they could hear Bitty (not-so-subtly) whisper an “Oh my Goooood.” Sam saw him clutching his chest as Alexei held onto the back cushion of the couch, body twisted so he could see what was happening. 

What he saw was this: Kent stepping into Jack’s personal space, reaching out a hand to his jaw, and wiping away the stray tears. He saw Jack slowly bring his own hand up and place it on top of Kent’s. They were both splitting grins the size of Texas.

“I never stopped loving you, even if it hurt.” Jack felt the full weight of his own honesty in the room, because it was obvious that while they dealt with what happened back then, there were still a lot of gray areas to be discussed.

This is no longer one of those areas.

They kissed, obviously, because  _ how could they not? _ Bitty was snuggled up next to Alexei now, Sam leaned herself on the back of the couch as they all watched this extremely adorable moment. Jack brought Kent in for a hug and they held each other for a moment, basking in the love they shared between the two of them.

Radiating off each other like the two starts they are, finally orbiting around each other instead of repelling.

_

**_9:42 PM_ **

“Now, Sam, you gifted us with these letters,” Jack said moments later, as he and Kent snuggled on the couch and Bitty had his arms wrapped around Tater’s neck from where he was on his lap, “But what about some embarrassing stories?”

“Well…” Sam started.

_

**_2008_ **

It had been way too long. The sun was setting over the large, floor-to-ceiling windows of John F. Kennedy International Airport. The shadows elongated over the tile floor; as they traveled in size Sam kept her sights on them to note how much time has passed.

The flight had been delayed three hours. Sam thought she could just read the book she brought with her and time would seemingly flitter away before her. However, she finished the book an hour ago, and it sat lazily next to her on the bench. It was mocking her.

She felt mocked by the words of Tom Clancy. How horrible.

When she pulls up  _ Last Week Tonight  _ on YouTube, she’s almost halfway through John Oliver talking about “foot fucking his way to comfort” when she hears the glorious, heavenly sound of roller suitcases.

It’s even better when she sees a mop of blond rolling his suitcase sandwiched between an equal mop of brunet and a head of red hair;  _ teammates _ . Sam’s face lit up and she fumbled for the sign she made at home that was resting on the leg of the bench.

She held the sign above her head and shouted his name, to which his teammates gawked at. Sam, just barely sixteen, wiggling around like a worm garnered a reaction out of Kent’s teammates that he didn’t seem too pleased at. 

Sam was too happy seeing her brother to give a shit. After he said parting words with his horn-dog friends, he broke into a small sprint, suitcase scoochin’ along in tow. He dropped the handle and his gear bag that was slung on his shoulder to pick her up, spin her around, and drop her lightly on her feet. 

“Missed you, dork.” He said as he fixed her snapback that he messed up, “Wait…” He took it off her head and turned the logo towards himself, “is this  _ mine?” _

“I believe the agreement was whatever you didn’t take with you was giften unto me.”

“Even my gay porn collection?” He teased, grabbing his belongings and walking with her outside. 

“ _ Especially _ your gay porn collection.”

Righr as Kent was about to respond, mid “What about my Bad Bob Body Iss-” his suitcase wheel popped off, spun out of control, and flipped in front of him. 

Kent proceeded to fall the greatest fall of 2008. Slow motion, hands out, mouth open, as he spread-eagle all over the airport floor. 

His teammates were by his side snapping pictures in a matter of minutes. All of them laughing. 

Except one. (He was giggling.)

“Mon  _ dieu _ , Parse, you okay?” As he’s helping him up he glances at Sam, smiling awkwardly as if Kent was  _ his  _ brother that fell on his face, apologizing for the second hand embarrassment. 

Sam has a handle on Kent’s suitcase (totally not showing off her epic muscles) and is handing him his bag as he’s giving his teammates the bird. 

___

**_2018_ **

**_10:03 PM_ **

“Holy  _ shit _ I remember that!” Jack’s cheeks are red, eyes a little glassy, as he cards his fingers through Kent’s hair from where Sam’s brother is laying his head on Jack’s lap. The image is picture worthy, but Sam has already crossed enough (poorly drawn) lines tonight. It’s an image she knows Kent has wanted for a long time,  _ especially _ after Quebec. 

Kent is laughing, but Sam looks at Jack confused, “You remember that?”

“Sammy he was the one that helped me up.” Kent’s left hand is petting Kitt, who lazes on his chest as his other hand reaches up to pat Jack’s cheek.

“My knight in shining under armor.”

“Oh my god that’s disgusting,” Except Bitty’s grinning when he says it. 

“Hold on,” Sam’s trying to remember the entire day to a T, “Jack was at the airport?”

“Yeah.” They both say, because,  _ obviously, Sam.  _

“In  _ New York? _ ” Sam emphasizes. 

“Layovers.” Jack blushes and Kent wont meet her gaze. 

She realizes something that Alexei and Bitty seem to be piecing together. 

“No no no.” Sam says, smiling like a wolf, “Why would there be a layover from Quebec in _New York, USA_ back to _Montreal, Canada?_ ”

Jack just stares at her. They’ve been caught. 

“If you’re implying that Jack secretly stayed in New York between a season just so we can hang out, it’s ludicrus.” Kent huffs. 

“Except I implied  _ none of that _ , but thanks for falling into my trap, K.” She sips her beer in victory. 

Kent hides his face by pressing it into Jack’s stomach, but by the look on Jack’s face - a look that is soft and sweet, eyes calm and grin spreading - Kent isn’t too upset. Of course Sam was going to find out, it was only a matter of how many more beers they’d had. Not like it was that big of a deal now, especially since Jack has his boy laying in his lap. Especially after all this time. 

“Instead of one embarrassing story, we got two!” Alexei has Bitty in his lap in the armchair closest to the corner Jack and Kent are nestled in. Sam has the perfect vantage point from her corner; the glow of city lights behind them from the window, the music Bitty turned down earlier to hear Sam’s stories, and the warmth of love she has for her brother (and his boyfriends). 

This is good for him. Sam feels nothing but bliss at this  _ exact _ moment. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to clarify: Sam and Kent made a deal which letters he chose to be read. However, Drunk Eric Bittle had gotten a hold of them, was not part of the original deal, and read with abandon. He's a mess.

**Author's Note:**

> There very well might be an epilogue of a present-day embarrassing story on Kent that The Boyfriends™ give Sam, but it's unlikely.


End file.
